A new survey by Travel Leaders Group reports nearly 90 percent of all luxury-oriented agents say bookings have "increased or remained steady" for luxury hotel bookings, luxury cruise bookings, bookings for suites on cruise ships, luxury tour bookings and First/Business Class airline tickets.
"The confidence luxury travelers have is palpable and clearly identified with the booking data from our latest survey. Nearly 92 percent of our luxury travel agents indicate luxury hotel bookings have increased or remained steady, luxury tour bookings are equal to or higher than last year for nearly 90 percent of our specialists and over 87 percent of those polled indicated their luxury cruise bookings have increased or are on par with last year," stated Travel Leaders Group CEO Barry Liben. "But make no mistake, clientele looking for unique, bespoke travel experiences do not spend money frivolously -- they demand value, as any traveler should," Liben said.
Key luxury trends cited by Travel Leaders Group:
Luxury Accommodations
The top response from Travel Leaders Group's luxury-oriented survey participants was "luxury cruise ship‚" followed by "5-star hotels and resorts."
Luxury Hotel Bookings
Nearly 92 percent indicated that their luxury hotel bookings are higher than or on par with this time last year. That's an increase of 6.8 percent over last year.
"More than 97 percent of Protravel agents surveyed stated their luxury hotel bookings have increased or remained on par with last year," said Protravel International president Pat Fragale.
Luxury Cruise Bookings
Over 87 percent of those polled stated their luxury cruise bookings are equal to or better than this time last year.
Cruise Suite Bookings
Compared to last year a vast majority stated their bookings have either increased or remained the same.
Luxury Tour Bookings
Nearly 90 percent said bookings are higher than or the same as this time last year - an increase of 3.1 percent over last year.
First Class/Business Class Airline Bookings
The results are part of the larger 2014 Fall Travel Trends Survey conducted by Travel Leaders Group from August 4 - August 29, 2014, in which 1,054 travel agents participated.